Blum did it again

It's been a crazy day for Switzerland. After the overtime victory against Denmark yesterday afternoon, the Eisgenossen came back on ice determined to win against Latvia, still placed last in Group A with just two points. Still, the Nati lacked concentration and effectiveness during the box play, and eventually produced a lacklustre first quarter, too unfortunately close to the previous games. Anyways, signs of recover came on the second period, with wonderful actions signed Nino Niederreiter: the Minnesota Wild forward scored two goals in quick succession, both during powerplays. A third goal came after the puck was touched by Gregory Hoffmann's skates, ending in the Latvian net and giving Switzerland a fantastic 3-0 lead.


Masalskis just gets beaten. Photo: Michal Eger

But Latvia didn't give up: in just five minutes the Baltic team was able to equalize the score, thanks to two goals by Mikelis Redlihs, both of them assisted by his teammates Sotnieks and Cibulkis (this deadly line, completely made of Dinamo Riga players, gave the Swiss much to think and to worry) and to a solo effort by Ronalds Kenins. The resulting 3-3 threatened to break once more the heart of many Confederates' fans.

The third and last period started well for Switzerland: but Sven Andrighetto didn't have the time to celebrate his goal, as Aleksejs Sirokovs put Latvia once more on a draw. An overtime was likely to happen, but somebody had to save the day: it was Eric Blum, the Swiss-Japanese defender who, after the beautiful shot made yesterday to close the matters against Denmark, signed another key goal for his team just 90 seconds before the end of regulation time. During an interview released to Swiss Italian TV RSI, Blum declared: maybe I should shoot more often...

We guess you're right, Eric!

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